Spreading Seeds-Evaluation Seminar in Spain

From the 15th to the 22nd of September, our president, Ciara and Seeds For Integration Working Group members, Matthew and Matas attended the 20th edition of the University on Youth Development (UYD) in Mollina, Spain, as part of an evaluation seminar of our working group’s progress.

OBESSU are running a 3 pillar grass root project called Seeds for Integration. ‘Seeds’ promotes and advocates the inclusion and integration of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker students in 2nd and 3rd level education across Europe.

ISSU became involved with the project in late 2018, with our working group focusing on the injustices that refugee and asylum seekers face when accessing 3rd level education in Ireland. We successfully ran our ‘Prospects not Provision’ project, with a collaborated conference with MASI due in October in Trinity College.

This year the Evaluation Seminar for our project was held in CEULAJ, Mollina, Spain as part of the UYD. The UYD gathers representatives from different youth organisations and youth movements to discuss, train and be trained around the main issues on the global agenda.

The week consisted of workshops learning how to make communities more intercultural and how asylum seekers, reugees and migrants can become included in society, rather than segregated. We had plentiful representation from student unions across Europe presenting on the ‘Seeds’ project for the project cycle evaluation.

ISSU also propposed an lead a Fridays for Futures Global Strike in Mollina!

Overall, a very productive week for our working group and the three of them came back with an even better motivation to destroy barriers in education for the young people of Ireland.

Meet our New Sustainability Officer!

At our AGM back in March, congress voted to add a new officer role onto our NSE — Sustainability Officer. After going through various candidates, it is our great pleasure to introduce Saoi O’Connor as our Sustainability Officer for this NSE term;

“Hi, i’M Saoi O’Connor and I’m a 16 year old climate activist from Skibbereen, Co Cork. I have been climate striking in Cork City for 37 weeks now. I am passionate about justice in all its forms, especially climate justice & sustainability. My work protesting the climate crisis has brought me into a network of like-minded friendships all over the world from Sweden to Uganda to Palestine. I first became involved with ISSU at the Regional Council last year and I’m incredibly excited for the coming year to work with the National Student Executive.”

Saoi will be liaising with Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Action orgs to promote equality and climate justice. They will run environmental campaigns throughout their term and promote the student voice in the midst of climate action.

The role of sustainability officer is one of great importance in this time of extreme lack of understanding of how severe the climate crisis is. It is evident through the strikes and many more campaigns coming through that young people are the only people taking this climate emergency seriously. Hopefully with Saoi and sustainability officers for years to come more of our leaders will step up and do what is necessary to save our future.

You can keep up to Saoi’s work on their twitter here.

ISSU Marching for Climate Action

The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union supports all students across the world who are striking today, Friday 20th September, to demand action on climate change. Tens of thousands of students have been joined by their third-level peers, teachers and workers on this day of climate action. This strike represents the largest to date, with more than 5,000 taking place across the world. 

ISSU Sustainability Officer Saoi O’Connor, present at the strike in Cork, noted “The strikes over the last few months have really shown us how powerful voices of the student body all across the world really are, with this issue being brought to the forefront of the public consciousness. This morning Richard Bruton stated that the strikes were no longer necessary, but the number of dissenting voices out there on the street today proves that he is wrong”. Saoi has been striking in Cork every week for the last 36 weeks, and is one of the founders of the Fridays For Future Ireland Movement. 

The lead-up to the strike was not without opposition however, with reports of a number of schools announcing to students, staff and parents in the preceding days to not allow students to join the marches. This was met with much backlash by students and activists online. ISSU Honorary President Sarah Harte, present at the strike in Dubin stated “ It is not acceptable that students were being discouraged and threatened with punishment for expressing their opinions on a future that will affect them.This is a climate emergency, and students seem to be the only people treating it like one. We should be encouraged to take an active role and an interest in the world that we are going to live in, and schools should be teaching students to be active citizens, not discouraging them.”

The ISSU will be present at future climate marches, until serious action is taken by those in power. Before it’s too late. 

ISSU in Solidarity with School Secretaries

The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) supports School Secretaries who are taking industrial action this Friday 20th September. School Secretaries around the country will engage in a short work stoppage at the beginning of the school day, with work-to rule action thereafter.

School Secretaries are in dispute with the Department of Education “as a result of their refusal to address a two-tier pay system that leaves most earning just €12,500 a year, with irregular, short-term contracts that force them to sign on during the summer holidays and other school breaks” - says FÓRSA.

The ISSU Deputy President, Chloe Griffin expressed the unions solidarity with school secretaries; “The ISSU believes that every member of the school community should be valued and appreciated, and this includes school secretaries. It is not good enough that these vital members of the school community are being treated in this way with their basic working rights being broken. We are united with the secretaries and FÓRSA in their fight to end this long standing pay injustice. Members of the ISSU will also be in attendance at the North Dublin National School Projects work stoppage, and we encourage our members to join secretaries at pickets across the country”.

Protests will be carried out in 250 schools around the country and up to 1000 schools are reported to be affected by the stoppage. Secretaries will protest outside of their schools or may join at another school protest with their colleagues for the duration of the stoppage. 

The ISSU encourages students to stand in solidarity with secretaries, and to also attend the marches for climate action taking place later that day. 

Where’s The Funding, Leo? Ireland Ranked Lowest by OECD on Investment in Education

The Irish-Second Level Students’ Union calls for action on educational investment, after the OECD’s report  “Education at a Glance 2019”, published September 10th, places Ireland in last place for investment in education as a percentage of GDP. The report, comparing the educational reality in 35 of the OECD member states, shows that Ireland invested just 1.2% of GDP in second-level education, compared to an OECD average of 2% and an EU average of 1.9%.

Speaking on the release of the data, ISSU President Ciara Fanning stated “Second-level students deserve investment in their education. With an increasing student-teacher ratio and class sizes, students are not getting the individual engagement with teachers they need. We should be able to take pride in our education system and invest in the best possible environment for learning and participation. Irish students have a right to the same level of investment in their future and their education as our fellow OECD countries.”

The report was as equally jarring when reviewing investment in other areas of education. Ireland invested just 3.5% of GDP in total for all primary, second-level and third-level education, compared to an OECD average of 5%. Ms. Fanning further noted “These results come in the week where we see Trinity College tumbling down the global rankings, and in the wake of revelations in early childhood education. These issues and more can all be traced back to a chronic underfunding of our entire education system, and the Government’s lack of recognition of how vital a tool education is for building a healthy, prosperous and informed society.”

The ISSU condemns the lack of investment in education, particularly in the second-level sector.  With the report emphasising the far-reaching benefits of education, how can the Government justify the neglect it shows the education sector? 

“Where’s the funding, Leo?”

The OECD report is available here: https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/

For further comment, please email media.communications@issu.ie

We're Hiring: Student Voice Development Manager

The Student Voice Development Manager will manage the secretarial functions of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union and will have responsibility for delivering organisational growth, fulfilling administrative and research/communications functions and is tasked with executing ISSU policy.

The role also includes representative responsibilities in line with the ISSU’s objective of supporting student voice. The successful candidate will be tasked with fostering the continued development of the national organisation and enabling the work of the ISSU National Student Executive.

CONTRACT LENGTH: Reporting to the Board of Directors and to be employed on a two year fixed-term contract, and subject to completion of a 6-month probation period.

WORKING HOURS: 37.50 hours (on a flexi-time basis). Occasional out-of-office hours may be required.

For more information and to apply online, see careers.issu.ie